


Confidence Man

by Antichthon



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, Post Chloé redemption arc, Slight Canon Divergence, chat noir gave chloe the bee miraculous, marinette doesn't know QB's identity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2019-08-13 20:51:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16479551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antichthon/pseuds/Antichthon
Summary: Chat Noir, and by default, Adrien, was often the go-to guy for his friend’s relationship troubles. In the past, he’d even succeeded at helping Nino ask Alya out.Now, Ladybug, Marinette, and Chloé have all come to him for help over wooing their respective crushes.Chloé likes both Marinette and Ladybug.Marinette just so happens to be Ladybug.Marinette has a crush on her new partner, who she doesn’t know is really Chloé.Adrien knows all of this, but despite that, helping the two girls see the connection that’s so obviously there between them, well… It’s definitely a difficult task, especially with secret identities thrown in the mix. Both Marinette and Chloé need the confidence to go after their respective crushes, and Adrien is determined to give his friends at least that, if not a push in the right direction as well.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive the weird formatting, especially around any italics. Converting from google docs to ao3's text box is messy.
> 
> //Edited & updated some pieces to fix the fluidity (1/31)//

Marinette had a big fat crush, and absolutely no way to deal with it.

For one, her big, fat, stinking crush was on none other than her somewhat new partner, Queen Bee. Someone that, admittedly, would have many people swooning over her. Marinette was probably just one of hundreds who would love the opportunity to grab the yellow and black-clad girl and kiss the hell out of her. Being one of many people interested in the heroine really lowered the possibility of any sort of relationship with the other girl.

That was just one of the many problems concerning Marinette’s crush.

Others included the fact that, one - Bee would probably never give Marinette a chance outside of the mask.

Two - even if there was some sort of possibility that Bee was romantically interested in _Ladybug_ , and even though Bee was very open about her sexuality, Ladybug was “ _very_ straight”, as far as anyone else was concerned. It was one thing to be out as Marinette, who was just a normal girl with no image to uphold, but as Ladybug, there were some secrets that were best left unknown, including her sexuality.

Three - even if there _was_ something between Ladybug and Bee, a relationship would be insanely difficult to maintain between two heroes who didn’t know each other’s real identities.

But Marinette would love to let Queen Bee in on the secret - they were close friends, after all, and Marinette trusted the other girl. She’d also love to know who Bee was beneath the mask. And although her partners were more casual about their identities - both Chat and Queen Bee knew who the other was, as Chat had been the one trusted with finding someone to wield the bee miraculous, and they were apparently good friends in their civilian lives - Marinette was more inclined to keep her identity to herself. Keeping their identities a secret wasn’t as big of a deal as it had been before Hawkmoth was defeated, but for Marinette, her identity was still a big deal for her. It was the only thing more important than keeping her sexuality hidden as Ladybug.

Chat Noir knew that Ladybug was insistent on keeping that a secret, but he also knew that she had a crush that was complicated by keeping her identity to herself. He’d previously tried to convince her that, whoever it was that she had feelings for, they’d love her as both Ladybug and her civilian self. He was absolutely sure of that - Ladybug was amazing, so of course she would be just as fantastic under the mask - but Ladybug didn’t seem to share the same mindset.

 

* * *

 

“Chat, I’ve told you about a _million_ times. I’m not the same under the mask, and I know you’re different too, so you can’t say that it’s not true.”

“My lady, of course it’s not true. Under the mask I’m more reserved and polite than Chat Noir is, but that’s simply because I have a reputation to uphold. You, on the other hand, are just the same as you are now. The only difference is the name you use, and the fact that you don’t go around wearing black and red spots when you’re not transformed.”

Ladybug only sighed in response, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking up again.

“It’s not just the name and wardrobe that change, kitty. Ladybug is courageous, and strong, and Ladybug doesn’t make _mistakes._ But as myself, I’m clumsy and quiet, and most importantly, an absolute nervous wreck around the person I like. When I’m Ladybug, I don’t act like that.”

“I completely understand that, Bugaboo, but, and just humor me here, what exactly is it that changes? Why is it that Ladybug is so much different than the real you, hm?”

She shook her head and shrugged. “The confidence I guess? Being in the suit, not having people know me for who I really am makes it easier to believe that I’m a different person. You’re the same way, right? In the suit, you’re confident enough to be as reckless and silly as you want, but you’re not that way in real life.”

Chat Noir huffed in annoyance.

“You can’t keep using my own differences against my argument. I’ll make you believe in yourself one day, just you wait.”

“Sure, kitty. Whatever you say.”

 

* * *

 

It didn’t help that Chat was constantly bugging her in her civilian form as well.

The two of them were in her room, Chat sitting backward in her desk chair, and Marinette lounging on her pink chaise, scrolling through the Ladyblog on her phone.

“Why does she have to be so cute, but so unobtainable, Chat?”

Chat perked up, pushing the chair forward and rolling over to Marinette. “Who’s the unobtainable cutie that my princess is so frustrated with?”

“Queen Bee,” Mari mumbled.

“What exactly makes her so unobtainable?” he questioned.

Marinette looked over at her partner, eyebrows raised in a silent question. “Maybe the fact that she’s a superhero with a secret identity and I’m just a boring, civilian girl?”

“I could introduce you two, you know.” Chat offered, his face giving way to a sharp-toothed grin. “For one, I know that she’d love some quality time with a pretty girl like you.”

“I’ve already met her a few times,” she responded, blushing slightly. “She’s saved me from an akuma, once or twice. So we’re not exactly strangers.”

“So what’s the problem, then?”

“The problem is _me,_ Chat. I can barely get out a full sentence around her. And I’m sure she has better things to do than spend time with one of her hundreds of fans. I’m not even interesting enough for a gorgeous girl like her, anyway. She’s… _too_ perfect for someone like me.”

“You know I’m the one who gave her the chance to be a superhero, right?” Marinette nodded, and Chat continued. “Well, I know her outside of the suit, and trust me, she’s much less _perfect_ as a civilian. We’ve been friends since we were kids, and she’s snarky, condescending and sometimes pretty rude. So, she’s definitely _not_ too good for you, Marinette. But… I know her pretty well, and I think she deserves someone like you. Someone sweet, and forgiving, someone who could maybe help her see the good in herself, you know? She’s improving, but she needs a little more than just my help.”

“Chat, if you’re telling me to pursue a relationship with her, you’re gonna have to try a little harder than that to convince me. A civilian dating a hero would be too tricky… Trust me, I’ve thought about it a lot, and it’s one of the reasons I haven’t tried to initiate anything between us.”

“Just _one_ of the reasons?”

She nodded. “I have… some secrets I’m not entirely willing to share with people yet, and you need trust in a relationship. I wouldn't be able to keep those secrets if I was romantically involved with someone.” Marinette sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest. “There’s stuff about me that not even my parents or Alya know, so I just… I can’t do relationships right now, no matter how much I’d like to, alright Chat?”

Chat didn’t need to respond. He knew how it felt, having to keep things from the people you were close to. So he just nodded in agreement, and let Marinette keep her thoughts to herself for the remainder of their time together that day.

 

* * *

 

Adrien seemed to always be the person to go to whenever his friends had relationship troubles, but he didn’t entirely mind. Despite the fact that both Ladybug and Marinette had talked to him at length about the people they had feelings for, he still wasn’t all that great at actually giving good advice on the subject. Chloé was no exception to this, of course. As Adrien’s oldest friend, she always went to him for advice when she couldn’t make sense of something, and her love life was most often the topic of their conversations. Unlike his other recent relationship talks, this time Adrien wasn’t suited up, but rather sporting just swimming trunks and an absurd amount of sunblock, courtesy of Chloé. The two of them were lounging on the roof of her father’s hotel after swimming for a good portion of the afternoon, relishing in the warmth of the early summer sun. After a short while, Chloé broke the silence.

“I think I know what I'm gonna spend the summer doing,” she offhandedly remarked.

“Oh yeah? It wouldn't be your  _super important_ superhero duties, would it? Cause we both know that once you're no longer busy all day because of classes, you're gonna have to step it up, Chlo. Don't you want to be just as good as _Ladybug_ _?"_

“I _know_ that, Adrien. I meant besides that. I’m going to find myself a girlfriend,” she stated, ignoring Adrien’s snarky comment. “And you’re gonna help me.”

“How exactly am I going to help with that?”

“Simple, you’re good friends with both Marinette and Ladybug, so you must have some idea as to how I could woo either one of the two. Am I right?”

“Well,’ Adrien shrugged. “I’ve never taken any interest in wooing Mari, and Ladybug hasn’t ever taken interest in my idea of ‘wooing’ her. Besides, Chlo, as far as I know, she’s not interested in girls. You can’t force that.”

“Well, Marinette then. She likes girls. And I _know_ that she’s had one on one crush talks with Chat, so you definitely know what she looks for in a girl.”

“I know more than what she likes in a girl, I know _who_  she likes, Chlo, but it’s not my place to disclose that information.”

Chloé pouted, but backed off a little. “Fine then. If you won’t tell me who, at least give me some pointers for having a romantic-type conversation with her?”

“First off, try not to be so mean to her, Chloé. She’s human, just like you and I, and she deserves to be treated nicely, especially because she treats _you_ so nicely, despite making her think she’s your sworn enemy.”

“I can’t help _that_ , Adrikins! I just don’t know how else to talk to her. It’s like… It’s like how little boys are mean to girls they have crushes on.”

Adrien sighed in response to Chloé’s excuse. It was a poor excuse, but one that was somewhat understandable. Chloé _did_ act like a child in some ways, and her reactions to dealing with her emotions were no exception to that.

“Try to be her friend first, and then move on to the romantic advances. Just talk to her about things you both like. Find common ground, and you’ll have no problem saying nice things. Try talking about Ladybug, or fashion. Something you know she has lots to say about.” Adrien smiled at her, resting his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “Start there, and you’ll do just fine, Chlo. I promise.”

 

* * *

 

Chloé spent a good amount of time thinking about Adrien’s advice before acting on it. June was close to being over, summer was nearly there, and she still hadn't yet made a move. Although, she did start to go a little easier on Marinette when she was around - teasing her much less, offering a greeting each morning instead of resorting to hostility - just to ease the tension between the two. Adrien’s advice was, so far, doing wonders for her. Marinette was wary of Chloé once she started acting less… stuck up, but the change really hit her the day Chloé let an honest to god _compliment_ slip past her lips.

At this point, the two girls had settled into a nice routine of curt “ _hello’s_ ” and occasionally a sarcastic remark each morning. Early June, Marinette had shown up to class one day sporting what was an interesting change from her usual pink attire. A yellow and black t-shirt hung loosely off her petite frame, well matching the pair of black jeans she wore. She greeted her friends as she walked in, a quiet “ _good morning_ ” to Chloé, who responded with an unexpected remark about Marinette’s bold outfit.

“Cute ensemble, Dupain-Cheng. _Surprisingly,_ stripes suit you.”

Marinette stood there, slack-jawed for a moment at Chloé’s sudden… compliment. If it could even be considered a compliment, coming from Chloé. “W-Well, thank you, Chloé. You don’t look awful today either.” Marinette stuttered out, her face briefly flushing pink before she swiveled on her heel and rushed to her seat next to Alya.

“ _Girl,_ ” Alya whispered as Marinette slid into the seat next to her. “Did Chloé just say something _nice_ about you?”

“I think so? I’m just as surprised as you are, Al. But considering she’s done a complete 180 with her attitude in the past month, it’s not the weirdest thing. What do you think _happened_ to her?”

Alya shrugged, at a loss for ideas. Apparently, nobody seemed to know what had changed Chloé so drastically. But in front of the two girls who continued to quietly gossip about Chloé’s change, Adrien smiled to himself. Chloé had begun to improve, and maybe there was hope for a friendship between her and Mari after all.

 

* * *

 

July came around, and with it, the end of the school year. The lack of classes to fill her days gave Chloé fewer excuses to practice being nice to Marinette, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t visit the other girl as her alter-ego. Chat Noir did it quite often, so why couldn’t she? Marinette was seated at her desk, absentmindedly sketching out a few ideas when there was a light tapping noise coming from her window. She sighed and stood up with the intent to simply open up the window and tell Chat off - she was busy and didn’t want any distractions right now - but to her surprise, it wasn’t Chat waiting for her on the other side. Instead, she was met with blue eyes and a figure clad in black and yellow. Marinette unlatched her window and took a step back, allowing the other girl to awkwardly climb through.

There was a silence, both Marinette and her partner standing there with nothing to say, until Marinette broke the silence. “Queen Bee, um, this is, uh… quite the surprise. What’re you doing here?”

“Well, I, um. Well, I don’t actually have a good excuse, I suppose. I just wanted to visit.”

“You wanted to visit _me_?”

“Is that weird?” Bee asked, grimacing at the atmosphere she’d created by showing up, unannounced. “Would it be any better if I said you’re in danger and I’m here to rescue you?”

“Well, usually it’s just Chat who shows up to, uh, ‘ _rescue’_ me, as it were, but I wouldn't at all object to being _your_ princess this time around.” Marinette smiled a little sheepishly, blushing and embarrassed at her use of Chat’s nickname, but the damage was done, and she’d more or less successfully flirted with Bee. Needless to say, Bee’s reaction was better than Marinette had anticipated, and the other girl cracked a small smile.

“So, princess,” Bee said, testing the waters of this new nickname that she assumed Marinette was used to. “You seemed to be working on something when I so rudely interrupted, yes?”

Marinette nodded, and made her way over to her desk where her sketchbook still lay open to her current page.

“I was considering some designs for a new dress… I had hoped to have it done within a few weeks, in time for the party at least, but I can’t seem to choose a theme.”

Bee reached over and pulled the sketchbook closer, examining the page. “Which ones are you stuck between?”

“Well, I can't choose between this shorter, strapless one, or the one that’s a little bit longer, with the short sleeves. But no matter which, I think I’ll go with a pastel pink and yellow theme for it.”

“Pink and yellow, huh? Good choices…” Bee remarked, still examining the two designs.

“They’re my two favorites. I’ve always liked pink, but uh, yellow is more of a recent development.”

Now, Chloé had always known Marinette liked pink, which was currently the color of the shorter girl’s cheeks - she was constantly integrating it into any outfit she wore. But if yellow was a _new_ favorite color of hers, well, Chloe had her suspicions about the cause of Marinette’s new favorite. Particularly one yellow-clad hero who was currently in Mari’s room with her.

“Yellow is nice, one of my personal favorites as well. And personally, I think you should go with the strapless one - it’s cute, but not too revealing. Perfect for a girl like you.”

Marinette blushed again. What did she mean by  _that?_

“You mentioned it’s for a party, right?”

Marinette nodded. “My birthday is in a few weeks, so I’m having a small party with some of my friends. It’ll be great, hopefully.” She frowned, just for a moment, her soft features creasing slightly, before she muttered - “Provided I can finish this dress on time, of course. Finding the right fabric in my price range might put me behind schedule though...”

“What kind of fabric would you prefer to use?”

“For this dress? I’d use something soft and easy to manipulate, and… pretty. I would love to give charmeuse a try, given that it’s lightweight, and how smooth it is, but realistically I’ll end up using some cheap silk.”

Bee clicked her tongue, shaking her head in disapproval. “Marinette, you simply cannot use a _cheap_ silk! Especially for a dress like this, on a _girl_ like _this_ ” she said, widely gesturing to Marinette. “You continue working on your sketches and final ideas for the dress, and I’ll take care of your fabric problem. Trust me, cutie. I know my way around fashion and fabrics, I’ll find you the perfect material.”

Marinette was so flabbergasted and focused on the ‘ _cutie_ ’ that Bee had slipped in, that she couldn’t even protest before the heroine had climbed back out the window and disappeared from sight.

 

* * *

 

It was a few days before Queen Bee visited again, this time laden with a large shopping bag from one of the pricier fabric stores in Paris. Marinette was preoccupied at the moment, finishing up what had to be a riveting paragraph for her physics project. Chloé had finished hers already - given that she had Sabrina’s help, it took the two girls only a short amount of time. But as for Marinette, she was burdened with not just a school project, but her designing and duties as a superhero as well, but, of course, chloé knew nothing of the latter. 

Marinette sighed as she let her pen clatter onto the desk, and she leaned back in her chair. “Sorry about that, Bee. I’m pretty busy with schoolwork these days.” Marinette rubbed at the back of her neck sheepishly. “And my lab partner is a bit preoccupied at the moment, so I had to finish up this last bit on my own.”

Despite already knowing the answer, Chloé asked - “Lab partner, hm? Who’s the dummy that left my princess to finish a group project _all by_ _herself?_ ”

“That’d be me, Bee.”

Both girls looked over to Marinette’s doorway, where Adrien stood with damp hair and a towel around his neck.

“We _all_ know that I would have helped Mari here finish the project, but I had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction and had to take care of it.”

“One of my pens exploded all over his white shirt,” Marinette explained to Bee. “He had to shower to get the ink out of his skin. It was… messy. But fortunately, nothing was ruined.”

“Of course pretty boy would make a fool of himself in front of you, Mari. He’s an absolute heathen. Doesn’t know how to control himself at all.”

“How dare you!” Adrien gasped, placing his hand over his heart in mock surprise. “I’ll have you know that I am a _perfect_ gentleman!” Bee stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation.

“Well _I_ have more important things to discuss with Marinette here.” she said, gesturing to the bag that sat near her feet.

“Oh! Before I forget,” Marinette said, snatching a small piece of paper from her desk and held it out to Bee. “I wanted to give you this.”

“What is it?”

“An invitation, to my party.”

“Wow, I… I’ve never been invited to anything like this before… Thank you, Marinette. Of course I’ll come” Behind Mari, Adrien gave Bee a smile and two thumbs up.

“Um, so...” Bee picked up the shopping bag and thrust it out to Marinette. “Your fabrics. For the dress.” Marinette smiled, accepting the bag and promptly sitting down cross-legged on the floor to survey what her friend had picked out for her. She pulled out the stack of fabrics inside, and spread them out. Multiple different shades of pink and yellow stared back at her. She reached down and dragged her hand across them, feeling the material beneath her fingers. It was soft… far too soft to be something of Marinette’s preferred price range. It hit her, after a moment, that Bee had gone out of her way to get the best and most perfect material for this dress.

“ _No!_ ” Mari let out a quiet gasp, before looking up. “Bee! Tell me you did not get charmeuse! This is too expensive!”

“Hey, I _did_ tell you I’d find the perfect fabric for you, didn’t I?”

“Bee I-I _can’t_ accept this, really.”

Be knelt down so that she was face to face with the other girl. “Please? Marinette, nothing would make me happier. Consider it a birthday gift, even if it is a few weeks early. Besides, pretty boy over there is going to buy you something at _least_ this expensive on your actual birthday, and you can’t refuse his gift.”

“Fine. As long as it isn’t… breaking the bank for you, alright?” Bee just smiled at her, and said - “Even if money was tight for me, I’d still buy you the most extravagant gifts, Marinette. I’ll see you at your party, alright? That dress better be the most beautiful thing you’ve ever made. Don’t let me down, hm?” And she left through the window just as quickly as she came. Marinette was, once again, at a loss for words, all because of her _._

“What… Adrien, what just happened?”

“Well, if I didn’t know any better Mari, I’d say she was flirting with you,” he said, grinning.

“You think so?”

“She did buy you expensive fabric and called you _princess_ , so yeah, I’d consider that flirting. Even if it is a bit unorthodox, that’s how she shows affection.”

Marinette sighed, playing with the material in her hands as she considered the situation, with her face scrunched up and lips pursed. “I guess… I guess I need to get to work on this dress, then. Wouldn't it want to let a girl like that down, would I?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very late update, but at least I've got another chapter up now. Hope you guys like it, and let me know if I made any mistakes!

Her birthday came much more quickly than expected, and Marinette was anything but prepared. The dress was done, of course - she’d finished it days ago - but with less than a full day left, her nerves were starting to get to her. She’d never been so nervous to see someone, at her own birthday party, to which she was wearing a dress she designed herself with _very_ expensive fabric given to her by the very person she was so worked up about. Would it be easier if she knew Bee’s identity? Or would it make this encounter much more difficult to bear? Queen Bee was one of Marinette’s _best friends_ for christ’s sake! So why was this so hard for her? Sure, she wanted to impress Bee and make her smile, and hear her laugh, but flirting and acting like a _normal_ person was never even this hard around even Adrien, save for the first few months of their friendship. Her relationship with Bee was so much more complicated, but considering she was _Ladybug_ , and could actually hold a conversation around the other girl while in the suit, why couldn’t she do the same now?

She chalked it up to the confidence that being in the suit gave her, like she had told Chat. Marinette wished she was more like Ladybug, and although Chat argued that they were the same person, Marinette knew that it wasn’t quite true. She hoped that it would prove to be true at some point, though. She couldn’t be both Marinette and Ladybug at the present - and right now, Marinette was incredibly stressed about her party, and right now, she needed Ladybug. She needed to _be_ Ladybug. Just for a few hours until she could calm herself down.

Moments later, Ladybug swung out through her window and away from her home, heading for the heart of Paris. She found herself on one of the rooftops overlooking the Louvre, and even in the heat of the midday sun, the streets below were crowded with people, both native Parisians and tourists alike. She sighed, wistfully watching the many couples who were most likely here on dates - maybe some even on their first date. It _was_ a lovely place to bring someone you loved, and Marinette personally would have just _adored_ spending the day here with Bee. If only she had a chance with the other girl, but unfortunately, as far as she could tell for the time being, there was no chance whatsoever. Not as Ladybug, anyway. Though, as Marinette, her chances were somewhat better, considering the way they’d been flirting the last time they saw each other.

Marinette was so lost in thought, just sitting there on the edge of the roof with a dopey smile on her face, that she didn’t notice Bee sneaking up on her. She nearly fell off the roof face first when Bee shouted out “ _boo!”_ , startling the other girl and scaring her half to death.

“You know, even Chat could’ve snuck up on you, with you being so distracted. What’s on your mind?” Bee asked, taking a seat next to Ladybug with her legs dangling over the side just as the other girl was doing

“I’m just… thinking about someone.”

“Ooh, does Ladybug have a _cruuush?”_ Bee teased in a sing-song voice.

“Maybe. Why’s it matter?”

“Well, maybe I could set you two up. I have a lot of connections, so I’m sure I could convince him to go out with _Ladybug.”_

“First of all, I don’t think I need help getting a date. We’re actually kind of… getting _somewhere_ when it comes to that, but there’s some things that are preventing an actual relationship, namely my secret identity. And two, well, there’s no guy, actually…”

“A girl, then? No problem. I have _lots_ of experience with _that.”_

“Yes, Bee, I know. You flaunt your sexuality whenever you can. But still, I don’t need your _expertise_ , really. Maybe you should use it to focus on getting your own girlfriend? You’re constantly talking about how much you want a relationship.”

“Yeah, I’m working on that. There’s this _cutie_ that Chat’s helping me ‘woo’. I think it’s going well, so far.”

“Oh? What’s she like?” Marinette asked, despite knowing exactly who Bee meant.

“Oh, Bug, she’s _amazing_ , she’s so incredibly talented and adorable, and just downright _stunning_ . God, I’m so crazy about her,” Bee gushed. “but I can’t _do_ anything about it. Chat keeps telling me to pursue her but I can’t exactly reveal my identity to a civilian, even if I do trust her. You know?”

Marinette sat there, silent for a moment and blushing furiously.

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.”

Bee didn’t know the half of this insanely complex situation, and Marinette was just _dying_ to tell her who she really was, but for the time being, there really was nothing that either of them could do.

 

* * *

 

Evening rolled around, and as people started to show up to the party, Marinette kept to herself, standing off to the side and fidgeting with the hem of her skirt in anticipation. The party was being held in one of the local parks, and with a slew of fairy lights hung up in nearly every tree, it looked almost magical against the night sky. But despite her party being close to perfect, Marinette was starting to worry. What would everyone else think when Queen Bee herself showed up? Would they question it? Would they wonder _why_ Marinette knew one of Paris’ infamous heroes? Or would they just go along with it and interact with the heroine like it was nothing new? Nearly everyone that she’d invited had arrived by the time she calmed herself down enough to join them. Adrien had been one of the first people to show up, and he could tell that she was nervous. When he caught her eye from across one of the few tables they’d set up, he gave Mari a reassuring smile and thumbs up. He was sure tonight would go great, and Marinette hoped he was right.

Bee was fashionably late, as always, showing up a good fifteen minutes after everyone else. A good few people were visibly shocked when she arrived, but after a few moments, they went back to their individual conversations. She approached Mari with a few colorful boxes in her arms.

“Sorry for showing up late, I uh, had to grab a few things for you.” She took a moment to set her gifts on a table off to the side, before looking Marinette up and down for a good few seconds.

“Is this the dress you made?”

Marinette nodded, lifting up the bottom of the dress and twirling it a bit. Bee nodded in approval. The dress had a bateau neckline, something that Marinette had changed from her original design - after thinking about it, she didn’t feel like a full-on strapless dress suited her, so the bateau felt much more comfortable to wear. The skirt was in an asymmetrical style, coming down to mid thigh in the front and falling just past her knees in the back. It was cinched around her waist with a thin ribbon, separating the pink top from the yellow skirt. It suited her _very_ well.

“I _love_ it. You know, you’ve really got talent, Marinette. You could do this for a living, if you really wanted.”

“Well, I’m trying, but I’m nowhere near being any sort of professional. I do take commissions occasionally though. It’s fun work, and I can make a decent amount of money with enough projects going on.”

“ _Well,_ I know who I’m going to the next time I need a cute party dress.” Bee said, and winked at her.

“Well, I’d be more than happy to make you something, considering all you’ve done for me lately. Anyway, enough about me, would you like some cake? Or something to drink? I think we have a few bottles of sparkling cider around, but I’m not sure what flavor my parents ended up getting.”

“I’ve been absolutely _dying_ to get my hands on some of your parents' pastries. I haven’t been able to have anything high in calories lately, and unfortunately that includes most of what your parents make, so, I think I’ll have to try the cake.”

“You’re always welcome to stop by while you’re on patrol - I’m sure my parents wouldn't it mind if I took a few things from the bakery for you.”

“Oh, really? I would _love_ that, Marinette. I don’t get nearly enough quality sweets on a day to day basis, but I can’t think of anything sweeter than getting to see _you_ during patrol.”

Marinette blushed slightly and turned to reach for a drink, to hide her quickly reddening face. If Bee kept this up, Marinette would end up looking like a tomato before the end of the night. Mari was awful at being on the receiving end of compliments such at these, but she was even worse at flirting back - especially with a girl like Bee, who surely had suitors less flirtatiously challenged than she was. But despite Marinette’s doubts, she felt as though the relationship between them was going well, and perhaps get even stronger as time went on. She had a good feeling about this.

“So,” Bee continued, when Marinette didn’t seem capable of coming up with a coherent response to her last comment. “You invited a lot of people, it seems. Everyone in your class must be here, huh?”

“Well, almost everyone. Chloé isn’t, though I _would_ have liked to invite her…”

“Oh? Why didn’t you, then?”

“I didn’t think we were really on that level yet. Sure, we’re, uh, _friends_ , I think? And she’s gotten a lot better recently, and we spend a little time together outside of class, but I wasn’t entirely sure if she’d even _want_ to come to a party like _this_. Looking back on it, I should have at least invited her, just in case she did want to come.”

“I think she would’ve like to come. She mentioned it a little while back, but didn’t want to intrude by asking and inviting herself, you know?”

“Oh,” Marinette bit her lip and looked to the ground. “Well, now I feel bad for not inviting her. Gosh, I should’ve just asked her to come.”

“Marinette, she’s cool with it, really. She didn’t want to intrude, but she sent me over with a gift for you since she couldn’t be here. Want me to grab it for you?” Marinette nodded, and as Bee made her way over to the table where she had left the gifts, Marinette stood quietly by herself, wondering why she didn’t yet consider Chloé a friend. She spent more time with, talking to and even _thinking about_ Chloé than she did most other people in her class. And she considered herself friends with nearly every single one of her classmates. So why didn’t she think of Chloé as a friend too?

She didn’t have time to answer herself, for Bee returned with her arms once more filled with gifts.

“The two little ones on top are from me, and this big one is from Chloé.” Bee handed the gifts to Marinette, starting with the ones from herself. The gift on the very top, the smallest of the three, was a set of little bee and honey themed pins, no doubt inspired by the heroine herself. Marinette smiled, and promptly pinned one of them to her jacket. The second gift, not much bigger than the first, held a (heartfelt) card and a gift certificate to one of Marinette’s favorite boutique. She set them down and threw her arms around Bee, surprising the other girl who hesitated for just a second before leaning into the hug.

“Thank you, Bee. These are lovely.”

“Well, go on, open up the one from Chloé,” she said with a smug and knowing smile.

Marinette let go of Bee and picked up the gift that Chloé had sent with her. There was a small note of top that read ‘ _Marinette ♥️’_. It wasn’t wrapped, but the gift box it was in had a cute ladybug print pattern that would have been ironic if Chloé had actually known Marinette’s secret. She carefully slid the top off to reveal a box full of what looked to be homemade cookies - snickerdoodle, Marinette’s favorite.

“She made them herself,” Bee said quietly. “She wanted to give you something meaningful, instead of something that had importance just because it was expensive, you know?”

Marinette took a couple from the box, offering one to Bee, and taking a bite from the other.

“Oh, these are _good!_ They’re so sweet, and the texture is fantastic. Oh, Bee, could you let her know that I absolutely _love_ them?”

“Of course. She’ll be delighted.” Bee took a second to look around at the other groups of people in the vicinity. The unintelligible pop music playing in the background was quiet, but not so quiet that it was drowned out by the conversation. “Would you like to dance with me, Marinette?”

Marinette hesitated for a moment - of course she wanted to dance, who wouldn't it take up that offer? But it would also feel like she was leading herself on. What if there wasn’t a chance at a relationship between the two of them? But Marinette put that thought out of her mind, determined to have some fun at her party, and she nodded yes to Bee’s offer. So what if it wouldn't lead to a relationship? Right now, the two girls were having a good time together, and that’s all that Marinette had hoped to get from her, for tonight, at least. She was happy, for the time being.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a very very very late update and I'm incredibly sorry for making you all wait this long (nearly five months holy shit) but here's the third chapter, with more hopefully coming soon! I've got most of the chapters loosely planned out, so as long as I can bullshit my way through dialogue and filler scenes, I'll have another chapter up before I go back to college in september :D

Weeks went by, and the two girls grew even closer. Marinette would often wake up to find to find gifts left for her on the balcony, no doubt something that kept Bee up at night longer than she should be, considering that Marinette was with Bee patrolling the city until the early hours of the morning, most nights. Sometimes the gifts would just be silly little things left with a note along the lines of “ _it made me think of you_ ” — a polka-dotted notebook, odd little candies that she though Mari might like, a funny card she saw in the shop. Other times, the gifts were more heartfelt — a dozen roses with a sweet note attached, personalized hair ribbons when she mentioned getting tired of her old ones, and even fancy chocolates at times when she wasn’t feeling her best.

Sometimes Marinette would leave out gifts of her own, when she had the time, considering she liked to make her gifts personal and made from love, like she had with Adrien’s birthday gift the year prior. On days when her parents tried out new recipes, Marinette would sneak a few of the treats and share them with Bee when she stopped by. One memorable night, she ended up introducing Bee to her parents much sooner than intended after the striped heroine tried sesame cookies for the first time — and found out she might be allergic to the seeds. The girls hadn’t noticed anything unusual at first, but once the heroine had begun itching and losing feeling in her face, Marinette promptly took her downstairs to where they kept allergy medication for this specific purpose. After the symptoms had cleared up fairly quickly, the two had to sit through a slew of questions from Marinette’s parents, who were surprisingly okay with the situation in the end. Now, Marinette’s parents made sure to save a little extra of whichever pastry Mari thought Bee would like the most, so that the girls could share a treat together each day. 

Their not-really-a-relationship soon developed into nights spent in each other’s arms and chaste cheek kisses every time one of them had to go. Chat and the others constantly badgered Bee about the girl who had her so smitten, and Marinette’s classmates teased her about her “secret girlfriend” due to how often the two girls were caught daydreaming about the other, and ultimately ended up missing some important event or piece of information. Marinette’s grades slipped up once or twice due to this, and Bee was often found miles away from a fight, both physically and mentally.

Although when the girls were in their smaller friend groups, the teasing was lessened somewhat — Adrien and Chat, in their respective groups, never teased either girl about the situation since he knew they got enough of it from everyone else around them, being the only person who knew that Bee and Mari had a thing going. And though Adrien did join in on occasion when Marinette’s love life was the topic of conversation, his joking around came to an end, for the most part, when he and Marinette had an enlightening conversation one day.

 

* * *

 

Adrien had cornered Marinette while they were out Alya and Nino (after the other two had gone off by themselves to spend some time alone) with that classic shit-eating grin on his face. Marinette groaned, already totally over whatever it was he was going to say.

“C’mon, Adrien, don’t even start. I already get enough teasing from everyone else. Why are you all _so_ obsessed with my love life, anyway?”

“Who wouldn't be? You two are really good together, you know?”

“Huh?”

“You and Bee, you guys are just super sweet and a totally great pair.”

“How do you know anything about me and _Bee_?”

“Huh? Oh, um, well you guys just seemed really _friendly_ that time she saved you from getting mugged.”

“Yeah, so? We’re _friends_ . That doesn’t explain how you know Bee and I have a, uh, a _thing_ going on.”

“I overheard you talking about it?”

“I don’t talk about Bee around anyone else.”

“ _Oh, for the love of…_ I know ‘cause I’m… I’ve been helping her. With the whole love life thing. _Your_ whole love life thing.”

“You’re helping her? _Why?_ Bee doesn’t exactly hang out with civilians much… So why’s _Adrien Agreste_ giving a _superhero_ dating advice?”

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, with a sheepish look on his face. “‘Cause I’m Chat Noir?”

“That… Okay, well, that actually makes some sort of sense. I guess. Alright. So you know who she _really_ is because you gave her the bee miraculous… And I suppose that means she knows you’re Chat as well, and she’s done a surprisingly good job of not telling anyone your secret…”

“I made her promise not to let it slip, of course. But, _god,_ Mari, please don’t tell anyone about this. Ladybug would _kill_ me if she found out that I told someone, let alone two people, about my identity.”

“Oh, would you relax, _kitty?_ I would never _kill_ you over something so trivial. Maybe give you a good scolding for letting the secret out.”

“You— you,” Adrien sputtered, trying to comprehend what Marinette had just confessed to him, while she seemed impassive about the whole situation.

“ _Ladybug?_ _”_ he finally managed to ask incredulously.

“ _Would you keep it down?_ I’m not trying to announce it to the whole school, y’know.”

“I can’t believe it’s been you the whole time!”

“Well, you almost got Alya as Ladybug in the beginning, but thankfully I didn’t hand over my miraculous to her like I had wanted to.”

“You know, despite all you’ve told me otherwise, you really are the same person in and out of the mask. Wow, _Marinette,_ I can’t believe it’s actually you. I really should’ve noticed earlier, if I’m being honest. The hair, your eyes, even the way you talk about yourself is the same as when you’re Ladybug.”

“I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?”

“Nope,” he said, grinning, and at that moment, Marinette resigned herself to the lifetime of teasing and pestering that was sure to come from this situation.

 

* * *

 

That night, Marinette dreamed. One of those dreams that start off feeling real, until you start falling.

 

_They were dancing together, the two of them. Queen Bee in a soft yellow dress instead of her usual tight-fitting suit. She still had her mask on, though it was no longer the leather piece she usually wore, no longer fitted to her face. This mask was elegant, more fabric than anything else, covered in lace and little silver stars._

_But it wasn’t Marinette she was dancing with._

_Marinette, Ladybug in her current dream, was in a modest scarlet dress, though much shorter and lower cut than she would have worn had she been awake. She wore a similar mask to Bee’s, though it was a red that matched her dress, and edges with a smattering of small black polka dots, less elegant than Bee’s, but more true to her actual mask._

_They were waltzing, or something similar, held close in each other’s arms, but not too close that they couldn’t gaze upon the other girl’s face._

_Bee whispered something indistinct to Marinette, and she laughed in response._

_The room was spinning around them, the crowd disappearing, and Marinette leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek._

_And she was falling._

_At least, it felt like she was. Maybe physically, maybe metaphorically, but Marinette was falling. Like she was being sucked into a black hole, and it was terrifying, but Bee was still there with her._

_Falling, falling, falling._

 

And she woke up.

The incessant beeping of her alarm clock clouded her thoughts for a moment before she had the awareness to shut it off. 10:30 in the morning. It was Saturday, and she had a lunch date with Adrien in an hour. Not really a date, but she hadn’t had patrol with him in a week, and they didn’t often see each other during the summer. Adrien was her best friend, and she wanted to spend more time with him, especially now that he was the one person she could confide in about their secret lives.

She was out the door by 11:15, having decided to walk there, considering it was such a nice day. It was late in the summer, hot, but not as hot as it had been in the previous month, so she wore a pair of jean shorts she had fashioned into overalls, over a cropped pink and white striped shirt, and black sneakers so that the long walk wouldn’t bother her feet too much.

Marinette arrived to the cafe just shy of noon, choosing a small table by one of the large windows. A waitress came by, and she ordered a coffee for herself and water for Adrien, since he wasn’t there yet. She sipped at her coffee, waiting on Adrien. 

The bell above the door rang lightly as it opened, Adrien stepping inside and removing his light jacket before he even made it to the table. He swung over a third chair from another table, the legs scraping against the floor. He sat down, and then next to him sat down Chloé. 

“Hope you don’t mind that I brought Chloé, her dad canceled on their lunch plans.”

“No, it’s totally cool. How are you, Chloé?”

“I’m alright. Glad that my father canceled our plans — he was planning on another intervention, trying to talk me out of being queer or something like that, all under the guise of wanting me to be happy, blah blah blah. He just wants a ‘normal’ daughter and eventually grandkids, but he knows he won’t get what he wants.”

“I’m sorry, Chlo. D’you think he’ll ever see reason?”

“He will someday. Once he sees that I’m happy as I am, he’ll come around.”

“ _Are_ you happy?”

“Hm?”

“Are you happy, Chloé?”

“ _Yeah,_ ” she said, a little breathlessly at being asked if she was _happy_ , of all things, by the girl she liked. “I’m the happiest I’ve been since before my mother left.”

“I’m glad to hear it. You deserve good things, Chloé.”

Chloé smiled at that, and took a moment to sip at the iced coffee she brought with her. Marinette lost herself, just for a second, caught up in staring at Chloé’s bright red lips around the straw. They spent the rest of their lunch date that way, making small talk, Adrien complaining about photoshoots and ‘model life’ like he used to, Chloé raving about new fashion trends, which Marinette listened to intently, and Marinette herself watching Chloé, staring at the other girl when she zoned out and blocked out the conversation around her. 

Her thoughts drifted to Bee, her not-quite-girlfriend. What _were_ they, exactly? Friends, at the very least, as both Ladybug and Marinette. Girls with mutual crushes on each other, maybe. But girls too afraid to start anything serious between them, of course. Marinette _wished_ there could be something between them, but dating with secret identities seemed too difficult to handle, even if there was no longer a great and powerful being (i.e. Hawkmoth) threatening the city anymore. They still had duties, and keeping their identities protected was at the top of their priorities. Or, it should be, but Marinette knew that belief was slowly but surely dissolving the more time she spent with Bee.

Bee, who she couldn’t keep her mind off of, despite currently spending time with two of her friends, who, frankly, deserved her attention at the moment. But Chloé in particular _was_ currently on her mind, surely _only_ because she reminded Marinette of Queen Bee, though. Or maybe Marinette had a _type_ and she couldn’t quite control her thoughts with another pretty, blonde, blue-eyed girl sitting in front of her. By the time their lunch had come to an end, with Adrien having to attend a meeting soon, and Chloé deciding that she had spent quite enough time among the ‘common’ people, Marinette had still not come to a conclusion as to what exactly her relationship with Bee was becoming. The three of them parted with a few hugs exchanged and a wave goodbye, and Marinette found herself wandering the streets of Paris, not wanting to return home just yet.

She was still many kilometres from home when the sky rapidly darkened, great clouds forming above, threatening to open up and soak the city. If she hadn’t been in such a public place, Marinette would have transformed and Lucky Charm’d herself something vaguely umbrella like. But as her luck would have it, she was trapped beneath the awning of some local restaurant when the sky opened up and rain began pouring down. She thought about calling for a cab, or perhaps finding her way to the nearest subway station, but she’d only brought enough money with her for lunch, and the small amount left over certainly wasn’t enough for cab fare. 

She was still lost in her own mind, considering a slew of unlikely options for getting home in the rain, when a voice called out to her from her left.

"Marinette?"

She looked up to see Queen Bee, balancing precariously on an alley-facing windowsill of the building next to her.

"What're you doing out in this weather, Mari?

"I got caught in it on my way home from lunch."

Bee dragged her eyes over Marinette, not hiding the fact that she was blatantly staring at her, taking her time and admiring the other girl. "You're not exactly dressed for a rainy day, Marinette."

"I guess I forgot to check the weather forecast," she replied sheepishly.

"Well, luckily for you, _I_ did, and I brought an umbrella. I'll walk you home."

Bee opened up her umbrella, an _Agreste_ brand one, not unexpectedly, and Marinette briefly recalled seeing Chloé with a similar one at lunch. The umbrella was just large enough for the both of them, and Marinette took Bee's free hand in her own, before setting off towards her house with Queen Bee at her side.

“How was your lunch?” Bee asked after a prolonged silence.

“It was nice. I met up with a few friends I hadn't seen in a while. I spent a little too much time overthinking some things though, so we didn’t exactly talk to each other as much as we should have.”

That wasn’t really news to Bee. She’d noticed that Marinette seemed distracted during lunch, deep in thought most of the time they had been together. She had wondered what was occupying Mari’s mind so much — perhaps she was stuck on design details, or stressed over the amount of shifts she was covering at the bakery lately.

“What were you overthinking so much? Surely you aren’t the type of person who ever needs to second guess herself, you’re perfect at nearly everything on the first try.”

“No, I just find myself constantly trying to figure out what you and I are, exactly. But it’s silly, because I don’t feel like we necessarily have to label our relationship yet. I’m happy just being us, together.”

“No matter what we label it, Marinette, we’ll always be us, together.”

 

* * *

 

The rain let up as they reached Marinette's street, and Bee looked at the sky to confirm that the dark clouds were finally moving away before she folded the umbrella back up. Marinette let go of her hand as they reached her front door.

"Thanks for walking me home, Bee. I really appreciate it."

"Anything for my favorite civilian," Bee said, giving her a smile with her tongue between her teeth and a wink. "Here, you can keep the umbrella, just in case.”

“Why thank you, my good lady.” Marinette replied, trying to stifle a laugh.

“Eugh, you sound like Chat. How Ladybug can stand his blatant flirting is _beyond_ me. If you ask me, she deserves a nice girl instead of that mangy cat.”

“Oh come on, Chat Noir isn’t _that_ bad, he’s just not really boyfriend material, in my opinion.”

“Yeah,” Bee agreed. “You’re right. I’m just hard on him because I’m allowed to be, considering we’ve been friends since we were kids.”

“I’m glad he’s got someone like you, Bee. I think he’s lonely, if I’m being honest. But you’re always there for him when he needs someone by his side, even out of the suit. You’re one of the kindest, most selfless people I know.”

“You wouldn't it say that if you knew who I was out of the suit.”

“I would, and you know it. No matter who you are without the mask, you’re still one of my closest friends. The mask and the abilites don’t change you one bit. You’re the same _sweet, caring_ person you are when you’re not Queen Bee.”

“If I truly am, it’s because you helped me become a better person, Mari. I have more to thank you for than you’ll ever know.”

Marinette smiled at that, despite knowing that she had Chat, and Adrien in their civilian lives, to thank for helping her become who she was today. But it was nice to think that Bee credited her for making her the caring and selfless person she was, even though Marinette had hardly known her for more than a few months, outside of being Ladybug. Bee had come a long way since she first showed up all those years ago, and she truly only had herself to thank for the progress she’d made, because it was Bee who had wanted to be _good_ in the first place, and that frame of mind led her to be the person she was now.


End file.
